Cesar Department

For other uses, see Cesar (disambiguation).

Cesar Department Departamento del Cesar
Department
Department of the Cesar
View of the Sierra Nevada
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Himno del Cesar
Cesar shown in green
Topography of the department
Coordinates: 10°29′N 73°15′W
Country	Colombia
Region	Caribbean Region
Established	December 1967
Capital	Valledupar
Government
• Governor	Francis Ferdinand Ovalle Angarita (2016-2019)
Area
• Total	22,905 km2 (8,844 sq mi)
• Rank	22nd
Population  (2018)
• Total	1,200,574
• Rank	16th
• Density	52.415/km2 (135.76/sq mi)
GDP
• Total	COP 37,524 billion (US$ 8.8 billion)
Time zone	UTC-05
ISO 3166 code	CO-CES
HDI	0.751 high · 21st of 33
Website	www.gobcesar.gov.co

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Cesar Department (Spanish: Departamento del Cesar), or simply Cesar, (Spanish pronunciation: [seˈsaɾ]) is a department of Colombia located in the north of the country in the Caribbean region, bordering to the north with the Department of La Guajira, to the west with the Department of Magdalena and Department of Bolivar, to the south with Department of Santander, to the east with the Department of North Santander, and further to the east with the country of Venezuela (Zulia State). The department capital city is Valledupar.

The region was first inhabited by indigenous peoples known as Euparis in the Valley of Upar and Guatapuris in the Valley of the Cesar river, among these were the Orejones pertaining to the Toupeh, Acanayutos pertaining to the Motilon and Alcoholades pertaining to the Chimila. The first European to explore the area was Spanish Captain Peter Vadillo, but German Ambrose Alfinger savagely conquered the region in 1532.

From 1996 to 2006 paramilitary groups committed gross human rights violations affecting tens of thousands of victims in the Cesar mining region.